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OA 







PAPERS READ 


BEFORE THE 



MARCH 7 AND APRIL 4, 1902. 


A REMARKABLE LETTER. 
MINUTES OF MARCH MEETING. 

WILLIAM STOY. 
MINUTES OF APRIL MEETING. 


Vol. VI. Nos. 6 AND 7. 



LANCASTER, PA. 
Reprinted from The New Era. 
1902. 







A Remarkable Letter - -- -- --85 

F. R. Diffenderffer. 

Minutes of March Meeting.90 

William Stoy: Clergyman, Doctor and Scholar - - 92 

Dr. Joseph H. Dubbs. 

Minutes of April Meeting ------- 99 






frank "ft, JQ 11+ e-n ievUtr, 

ii 


A REMARKABLE LETTER. 

I 


Some time ago my attention was 
called to a very remarkable letter 
written by the Landgrave of Hesse- 
Cassel to his Prime Minister, Baron 
Hohendorf, soon after the news of the 
battle of Trenton reached him. All 
in all, I am disposed to regard it as one 
of the most remarkable documents 
ever written by a civilized ruler. 

When Great Britain made her con¬ 
tract with the six German Princes to 
hire their troops for service in Amer¬ 
ica, Frederick II. was Landgrave of 
Hesse-Cassel. He must not be con¬ 
founded with his great namesake and 
contemporary, Frederick of Prussia. 
He was the Catholic ruler of a Protest¬ 
ant country. His first wife was an 
Englishwoman, the daughter of George 
II., of England. She separated her¬ 
self from her husband on his conver¬ 
sion to Catholicism. 

After that, Frederick led a merry 
life in his capital of Cassel. His court, 
small as it was, was perhaps the most 
corrupt in Europe, being crowded with 
adventurers of all kinds. He was 
a reprobate of the first water, and was 
credited with being the father of one 
hundred children. At the breaking 
out of the Revolution he was about 
sixty years of age, and appears to 
have become somewhat more steady 
in his habits. 

His territory was not large, and his 
subjects were only a few more than 
300,000 in number. His army in 1781 
numbered 22,000. They were drilled in 
the Prussian system and were account¬ 
ed excellent soldiers. 

Of the 29,875 men hired by Great 
Britain from the six German Princes 


( 86 ) 

for service in America, the Landgrave 
of Hesse-Cassel contributed 16,992, or 
rather more than one-half the entire 
number. The treaty under which their 
services were secured was made on 
January 1, 1776. The King of Great 
Britain engaged in a defensive alli¬ 
ance with the Landgrave. In some 
particulars he appears to have been 
watchful of his soldiers and to have 
guarded their interests very carefully. 
Some of the conditions of that treaty 
were as follows: 

The Hessian troops were not to be 
separated, but kept together under their 
own generals, unless the exigencies of 
of war should require a separation. 
The sick were to remain under their 
own surgeons, and everything was to 
be allowed them which the English 
King allowed his soldiers. 

Under that treaty the Landgrave was 
to furnish 12,000 men fully equipped. 
I have already stated the number in 
the end reached nearly seventeen 
thousand. As the war progressed, the 
need of Great Britain for more sol¬ 
diers increased and she naturally 
turned to the German principalities 
where they were to be had in lots to 
suit buyers. Hence the additional 
numbers sent over to this country. 
He was to receive levy money at the 
rate of £7,4. 4Y 2 , or a little more than 
$36 for each man sent. In addition he 
was to receive £108,281 per annum 
as a subsidy, nearly $550,000, to be con¬ 
tinued for one year after the return of 
his troops. He was also sharp enough 
to insist on the payment of an old 
claim, previously disallowed by Great 
Britain, amounting to over $200,000. 

Just what he got for men killed in 
battle, maimed or wounded is not 
known, but che terms are supposed to 
have been the same as those conceded 
to the Duke of Brunswick, which were 
$36 for every soldier killed in battle 
and $11.66 for every one maimed in 





(87) 

battle. One clause in this diabolical 
treaty ran thus: “According to cus¬ 
tom three wounded men shall be reck¬ 
oned as one killed; a man killed shall 
be paid for at the rate of levy money, 
$36.” The letter of the Landgrave 
which I will now read throws some 
light on this interesting payment of 
blood money. The letter is copied 
from “Littell’s Living Age” for Octo¬ 
ber 3, 1874: 

“Baron Hohendorf—At Rome, on my 
return from Naples, I received your 
letter of the 27th December of the past 
year. With inexpressible delight I 
learned of the courage displayed by my 
troops at Trenton, and you can imag¬ 
ine my joy when I read that of 1,950 
Hessians engaged in the fight, only 
300 escaped. According to this, exact¬ 
ly 1,650 have been slain, and I cannot 
recommend to your attention too 
much the necessity of sending an exact 
Lst to my attorneys in London. This 
care is necessary, because the list sent 
to the English minister shows a loss 
of only 1,455. In this way 1 should suf¬ 
fer a loss of 160,050 florins. According 
to the account rendered by the lord of 
the treasury I should receive but 
483,450 florins instead of 643,500 florins. 
You will see at once that it is their in¬ 
tention to make me suffer a loss by an 
error in calculation, and therefore you 
must take the utmost pains to prove 
that your list is correct and theirs 
false. 

“The English Government objects 
that one hundred are wounded only, 
for which it cannot be expected to pay 
the same price as for killed. 

“Remember, that of the three hun¬ 
dred Lacedaemonians who defended 
the pass of Thermopylae, not one re¬ 
turned. I should be happy if I could 
say the same of my brave Hessians. 

“Tell Major Miedorff that I am ex¬ 
tremely displeased with his behavior, 
to conduct into camp the three hun- 


I 



( 88 ) 

dred which fled the battlefield at 
Trenton. During the whole campaign 
he has not lost ten of his whole com¬ 
mand.” 

The Landgrave’s account of his losses 
at the battle of Trenton differs from 
those officially reported. General 
Washington in his first report to Con¬ 
gress says 23 officers and 868 men sur¬ 
rendered; a few more afterwards pick¬ 
ed up in Trenton raised the number of 
prisoners taken to about 1,000. Only 
about 20 or 30 were killed. The troops 
at Trenton consisted of one brigade, 
composed of three regiments, Rahl’s, 
Knyphausen’s and von Lossberg’s, all 
German mercenaries. It deserves to be 
stated these men were excellent sol¬ 
diers; braver ones were not sent here 
by Great Britain. They fought gallantly 
as often as they marched upon a field 
of battle. The officers were men of ex¬ 
perience and Germany had none bet¬ 
ter. They carefully watched over the 
interests of their troops and looked 
after their welfare. 

Most of the German soldiers cap¬ 
tured at Saratoga, Trenton and else¬ 
where during the war were sent into 
this State, Maryland and Virginia. 
The avowed purpose for doing this was 
to remove them as far from all danger 
of recapture as possible. It is probable 
there was still another motive and one 
equally strong. The frontiers of the 
States just mentioned were settled 
largely by Germans. When these Ger¬ 
man soldiers were quartered in these 
German settlements they were of course 
brought into direct contact with their 
former countrymen. There are always 
some soldiers in an army ready to de-'' 
sert. There is reason to believe this 
fighting in the service of King George 
was distasteful to many of them; many 
of them got away of their own accord. 
More listened to the persuasions of 
their German countrymen, who, as far¬ 
mers and handicraftsmen, were pros- 


(89) 

pering in their new homes beyond 
anything that was dreamed of in the 
old. Doubtless it required little per¬ 
suasion to induce them to desert, nor 
was that feat difficult. They had no 
trouble in finding hiding and homes 
among their German countrymen, re¬ 
maining thus cared for until all dan¬ 
ger of apprehension was oVer. How 
many of these German soldiers remain¬ 
ed here is of course not known, but it 
is possible to form something like a 
close estimate. The official accounts, 
according to the best authorities, show 
that of the 29,867 who came to Amer¬ 
ica, to fight under the banner of King 
George III., 17,313 were returned to 
Europe in the autumn of 1783. The 
number that did not return was 12,554, 
which have been accounted for as fol¬ 
lows: 

Killed and died of wounds. 1,200 

Died of illness and accident.... 6,354 
Deserted .5,000 


.12,554 

F. R. D. 


Total 






Minutes of March Meeting, 


Lancaster, Pa., March 7, 1902. 

The Lancaster County Historical So¬ 
ciety held its usual monthly meeting in 
its rooms, in the Y. M. C. A. build¬ 
ing, this afternoon, Vice President 
Dubbs being in the chair. The roll of 
officers was called and the minutes of 
the February meeting were read and 
adopted. 

Messrs. P. T. Watt, Rev. T. G. Helm 
and W.O. Frailey were elected to mem¬ 
bership. The donations to the Society 
consisted of a copy of Mrs. Gibbons’ 
“Pennsylvania Dutch,” Centennial 
Sketches, Pictorial History of Penn¬ 
sylvania, and a number of old news¬ 
papers, contributed by Mrs. S. Sent- 
man, in memory of her son, Mr. P. 
Sentman, a member of the Society. 
Also, an illustrated show bill of a con¬ 
cert given in Fulton Hall in 1854 by 
the Hutchinson family. 

A letter written by Frederick II., 
Landgrave of Hesse Castle, written in 
1777, relating to the battle of Trenton, 
and the killing and capture of his 
troops on that occasion, was read. It 
was one of the most heartless and dia¬ 
bolical letters ever written by a ruler. 
It was accompanied by a commentary, 
by way of explanation, by the Secre¬ 
tary. 

A quotation from Bowen’s “Pictur¬ 
esque Pennsylvania” was also read, 
showing that as early as 1760 Wil¬ 
liam Henry, Esq., of this city, was ex¬ 
perimenting with a boat driven by 
steam on the Conestoga river. The 
boat was eventually sunk, and Henry 
gave up his pursuit of the scheme. No 
doubt Fulton, who was aware of 
Henry’s experiments, got some of his 
ideas on our own river. Considerable 



(91 ) 

discussion followed the reading of 
these extracts. 

The Rev. Dr. J. W. Hassler, from 
the committee to prepare a minute on 
the death of Prof. I. S. Geist, late a 
member of the Society, reported the 
following: 

At the February meeting of the Lan¬ 
caster County Historical Society, the 
death of Prof. I. S. Geist, of Marietta, 
a member of this Society, was an¬ 
nounced. 

The committee to draft a minute ap¬ 
preciative of the Society’s regret at 
the loss of the deceased member re¬ 
ported the following: 

Prof. I. S. Geist, though unable, on 
account of the infirmities of age, to 
regularly attend the meetings of this 
body, was deeply interested in its work. 
Descended from among the earliest 
German settlers of our county,as an in¬ 
telligent man, whose active life was 
almost entirely spent in the work of 
education, he could not fail to be much 
interested in our work of historical re¬ 
search. His death is much lamented, 
not only by the citizens of his own 
town, but also by this Society. 

COMMITTEE. 

It was also agreed to place a new 
book case in the Society’s room, and 
this will be done at once. The Society 
is now prepared to furnish shelf room 
to any and all proper donations in the 
way of books, manuscripts, news¬ 
papers and historical relics of all kinds, 
and all such articles are earnestly so¬ 
licited. It is believed that there are 
many persons in the community who 
have articles of this kind which they 
have no use for themselves, but which 
they care to see preserved. The Society 
will gladly receive all such and place 
them among its collections, where they 
may become permanently and gene¬ 
rally useful. 


1 


WILLIAM STOY. 


The text of my present, paper is an 
old letter which 1 have found among 
my half-forgotten collections. It was 
written to Judge Jasper Yeates, who 
was one of the most eminent men in 
the early history of our city. The let¬ 
ter has never been published, and, 
though its contents are not particu¬ 
larly important, it derives a certain 
interest from the personality of its 
writer, who was pastor of the First 
Reformed Church, on Orange street, 
from 1758 to 1763, and was certainly 
one of the most peculiar ministers that 
ever occupied a puipit in Lancaster. 
The following is a copy of this very 
curious letter: 

“Lebanon, Jan. 4, 1787. 

“Sir: As to all present appearance, 

it will hardly be possible for me to at' 
tend the Lancaster Court, but it will 
be useless, too, as it will not be in my 
power to bring my evidences together. 
One of ’em, the best I have, lives with¬ 
in the hills of the Blue Mountains, 
where nobody at present is able to 
come to on account of the deep snow. 
A young man came to me to-day from 
over the Hills on account of his Broth¬ 
er, who got mad of the bite of a dog, 
who told me that he could not get far¬ 
ther than a mile on horseback, and was 
obliged to walk all the way on foot. In 
case I should not attend, you will be 
so good as to make the best of it and 
do what is necessary. However, if 
possible, I will come to Lancaster, 
though my health is mighty precarious 
all this winter. I am, sir, 

“Your o. h. sert., 

“W. STOY.” 

In order properly to understand this 
letter it may be desirable to relate cer¬ 
tain facts in the history of its writer. 


(93) 

The Rev. Wm. Stoy (pronounced 
Sto-e) was born in Herborn, Nassau, 
Germany, March 4, 1726. In his native 
town there was a celebrated literary 
and theological institution, and here he 
was thoroughly educated. In those 
days knowledge of the Latin language 
was regarded as the chief mark of a 
scholar, and in this respect he was 
certainly far in advance of his associ¬ 
ates. He grew up a young man of al¬ 
most gigantic frame, and his physical 
strength was regarded as enormous. In 
1749 he became a candidate of theology 
—or, as we should now say, a licen¬ 
tiate—but does not seem to have been 
called to a regular charge. In 1751, 
Michael Schlatter visited Europe, and 
in the following year Stoy, with five 
other young ministers, accompanied 
him on his return to America. They 
had all been duly commissioned by the 
deputies of the Synods of Holland to 
serve as pastors in Pennsylvania. 

Concerning the earliest years of 
Stoy’s activity in this country we have 
little information, except a few facts 
and dates. Immediately after his ar¬ 
rival he was assigned to the Tulpe- 
hocken charge, now in Lebanon coun¬ 
ty, where he preached from 1752 to 
1755. Then he accepted a call to the 
Race street church, Philadelphia,where 
he also remained three years. Here, it 
was said, he might have done well 
enough, if it had not been for his mar¬ 
riage with Maria Elizabeth Maus, “the 
daughter of a stocking weaver.” So far 
as we have been able to learn, there 
was nothing to be said against the 
girl’s character, but in those days un¬ 
due stress was laid on social position, 
and, greatly to their discredit, the 
members of the congregation—or more 
probably the ladies of the congrega¬ 
tion—refused to recognize her as their 
pastor’s wife. The result was a con¬ 
flict, in which, we may be sure, Stoy 
was in no way backward to return the 
blows which he received. The minutes 


( 94 ) 


of the Coetus (or Synod) contain the 
following item: “There were com¬ 
plaints concerning Stoy’s marriage, 
but it was solemnized in his father-in- 
law’s house, in the presence of the pas¬ 
tors Otterbein, Leydich and Du Bois.” 
A marriage that was witnessed by 
three ministers certainly did not lack 
official sanction, and the Synod very 
properly ignored the complaints which 
had been presented. 

Nevertheless, the position of Pastor 
Stoy in Philadelphia can hardly have 
been pleasant; and even before his 
marriage had been brought to the at¬ 
tention of Synod he had removed to 
Lancaster. Here he seems to have got 
along very well. In 1758 he reported 
that his congregation consisted of one 
hundred families; that he had baptized 
one hundred children during the year 
and confirmed forty, and that there 
were sixty scholars in the parochial 
school. 

For several years Stoy served as 
clerk of the Coetus. As the authorities 
in Holland refused to receive German 
communications, and Stoy was not 
sufficiently familiar with Dutch, he 
wrote long letters in Latin. In these 
letters there was a manifest effort to 
employ a Ciceronian style, but the only 
result was that it became pompous and 
inflated. Even the “Fathers” in Hol¬ 
land complained that his Latin letters 
were too exalted for their purposes, and 
begged to be spared from similar in¬ 
flictions. 

In 1763 Stoy resigned his charge in 
Lancaster and went to Europe for the 
purpose of studying medicine. He was 
matriculated at Leyden, but pursued 
his studies chiefly under the direction 
of Prof. Hoffman, of Herborn. 

On his return to America, in 1767, he 
settled in Lebanon for the practice of 
medicine. He also irregularly took 
charge of several county congregations. 
The statement that he was pastor of 
the First Reformed Church, of Leba¬ 
non, has been proved erroneous. 


(95) 

Greatly to his surprise the Coetus re¬ 
fused to recognize him as a member, 
and he began to oppose that organiza¬ 
tion. He wrote to Holland to secure 
the influence of “the Fathers,” and 
these requested the Coetus to reinstate 
him, but that body declined to accede 
to the request. He remained inde¬ 
pendent, and was violent in his oppo¬ 
sition to synods. As late as 1773 the 
Coetus said in its official letter to Hol¬ 
land: “Stoy cannot be received. Last 
year he published a satirical article 
against Coetus, and this year he sent 
us a threatening circular.” 

In the meantime, however, Stoy 
had gained a great reputation as a 
physician. His cure for hydrophobia— 
which was equally applicable to the 
bite of wild animals—was for many 
years accepted as a specific. “The 
remedy,” according to Dr. J. H. Red- 
secker, “consisted of one ounce of the 
herb, red chickweeds, four ounces of 
theriac (or Venice treacle), and one 
quart of beer, all well digested, the 
dose being a wine glassful.” Though 
physicians are now inclined to question 
the merit of this remedy, it is still oc¬ 
casionally prepared. It must be said, 
however, that several recipes for its 
preparation have been published which 
differ in minor particulars. The early 
celebrity of the remedy is sufficiently 
attested by the following extract from 
the account book of General Washing¬ 
ton: “October 18, 1798. Gave my ser¬ 
vant, Christopher, to bear his expenses 
to a person in Lebanon, in Pennsylva¬ 
nia, celebrated for curing persons bit 
by wild animals, $25.” 

“Stoy’s Drops” are also well remem¬ 
bered. In his contribution to the 
Lebanon County Historical Society, Dr. 
Redsecker gives the manner of their 
preparation. They are described as 
beneficial in nervous diseases. 

That Dr. Stoy was a progressive phy¬ 
sician is evident from the fact that he 
labored in the face of much opposition 


(96) 

for the introduction of inoculation 
against small-pox. 

In 1784 Dr. Stoy was elected a mem¬ 
ber of the Pennsylvania Legislature. A 
long letter to Gen. Joseph Read, on 
“The present Mode of Taxation,” was 
published by him in 1779. In it he ad¬ 
vocates a single tax on land. Though 
the general idea appears strangely 
modern the details of his plan are 
plainly impracticable. 

By this time Stoy had become pretty 
thoroughly secularized, but he contin¬ 
ued to preach in country churches 
throughout, Lebanon and Berks coun¬ 
ties. That he was very eccentric is not 
to be doubted, though many of the sto¬ 
ries which are related about him are 
possibly apocryphal. He is said to have 
worn a white coat, in order that he 
might not be mistaken for a “black- 
coat,,” i. e., a regular minister. “It is 
stated,” says Dr. Redsecker. “that on 
one occasion he was to preach at Wal- 
mer’s church on a week-day. On enter¬ 
ing the church he stood his gun under 
the pulpit, hanging the powder-horn 
and shot-pouch by the gun. Ascending 
the pulpit he looked over the congre¬ 
gation, which was very small, and thus 
soliloquized: ‘What, only a few old 

women! Why should I preach to a 
few women when the hunting is so ex¬ 
cellent?’ And, descending the pulpit 
stairway, he took up his gun and start¬ 
ed out in quest of game.” 

Not less curious are the legends of 
Stoy’s extraordinary physical strength. 
It is said that he was fond of showing 
his strength by lifting a bag of wheat 
with each hand, and then playfully in¬ 
quiring whether there was chaff in the 
bags. 

One of the best-known stories relates 
how Stoy served a prize fighter who 
rode all the way from Philadelphia to 
give him a beating. The man inquired 
tor the Doctor at his house, but was 
told that he had attended a funeral in 
the country, but would soon return. 


( 97 ) 


“Well,” said the fellow, “I will ride 
out to meet him.” When he met him 
on the road he recognized him by the 
description which he had received, and 
said: “Stoy, I have heard that you are 
the strongest man in Pennsylvania,and 
have come from Philadelphia to see 
which of us is the best man. I am go¬ 
ing to give you a thorough whipping.” 

“Oh, no,” said Stoy, “I am a man of 
peace, and will not fight.” 

The stranger dismounted and made 
an effort to pull the Doctor from his 
horse. “Oh,” said he, “if it has come 
to that I will get down without pull¬ 
ing.” When he had alighted ne did not 
wait for an attack, but suddenly seized 
his antagonist by the belt, and by 
main strength pitched him over the 
fence into an adjoining field. Lying 
on his back on the grass, and, between 
laughing and crying, the man said: 
“Stoy, throw my horse over the fence, 
too.” 

Here the story ends, and we may be¬ 
lieve it or not, just as we please. All 
these stories, however, have an element 
of similarity, and aid us in forming an 
idea of the character of the man. He 
was learned and strong, but eccentric 
in the highest degree. Having con¬ 
ceived the idea that he could secure 
wonderful results by training one of 
his sons to be a Nazarite, he put him 
under strict training—requiring him to 
abstain from certain kinds of food and 
drink, to let his hair grow, and do 
many unusual things; but the plan was 
not successful, and the boy never be¬ 
came as strong as his father. When, 
however, the editor of a Reading 
paper volunteered to play on Dr. Stoy’s 
name and called him a “Stoic,” he 
gave him such a setting-down as must 
have made his ears tingle. 

In later years, at least, Stoy bore the 
reputation of being contentious, and he 
certainly quarreled with a great many 
people. Dr. Egle, in 1883, published 
two of his letters, written in 1775, in 


(98; 


one of which he formally accused Gen. 
John Philip De Haas of being a Tory. 
As De Haas was soon afterwards com¬ 
missioned by Congress a General in the 
Revolutionary Army, there may be 
some ground) for Dr. Egle’s suggestion 
that the trouble was with Stoy and not 
with De Haas. 

Stoy was litigeous and generally had 
several law suits on hand. One of 
these was with James Chesnale, who 
built a house for him in Lebanon, and 
this is probably the case to which our 
letter refers. 

Stoy ended his somewhat stormy life 
at Lebanon, September 14, 1801, and 

was buried at the Host Church, in 
Berks county. That he was a strong 
man—mentally as well as physically— 
will not be doubted; but, from what we 
have said, it most be equally plain that 
he was a peculiar minister. 

JOS. H. DUBBS. 


Minutes of April Meeting 


Lancaster, Pa., April 4, 1902. 

The regular monthly meeting of the 
Lancaster County Historical Society 
was held in the ladies’ parlor of the 
Young Men’s Christian Association 
this afternoon, Rev. Dr. J. H. Dubbs 
in the chair. The roll of officers was 
called and the minutes of the March 
meeting were read and adopted. 

The following applications for mem¬ 
bership were received: Miss Eliza J. 
Diller, of Weldon, Montgomery county; 
Horace Edward Hayden, of Wyoming 
county; Miss Mary S. Goodell, of Lan¬ 
caster, and the Carnegie Library, at 
Pittsburg. 

The donations to the Society were a 
copy of the recently-issued Year Book 
of St. James’ Parish, of this city, do¬ 
nated by George N. Reynolds, Esq.; a 
block taken from a girder of Indepen¬ 
dence Hall, when that building was 
repaired in 1837, donated by a friend; 
also, a sermon by Rev. Stewart Cramer 
on the death of President McKinley, 
and a number of periodicals and ex¬ 
changes from sister societies. The 
thanks of the Society were extend¬ 
ed to all the above donors. 

The paper of the day was read by 
the Rev. Dr. Joseph H. Dubbs, the sub¬ 
ject being the very remarkable career 
of the Reverend William Stoy, who was 
preacher, doctor, politician and an ec¬ 
centric, all in one. His career, which 
was an interesting one, was run in 
this and the neighboring counties. 

This was followed by a long discus¬ 
sion of some features of the paper, lead¬ 
ing up to Mr. Stoy’s well-known cure 
for hydrophobia, once universally ac¬ 
cepted and believed in by the people of 
this locality. 


( 100 ) 

Dr. Dubbs read an interesting circu¬ 
lar, issued without date by Thomas 
Pool, who was conducting the Frank¬ 
lin Academy, early in the nineteenth 
century. 

A committee consisting of the Libra¬ 
rian and Treasurer was appointed to 
purchase a number of recently pub¬ 
lished books much needed by the So¬ 
ciety. The Committee on Badges was 
instructed to procure a suitable one for 
the use of the members. There being 
no further business, the Society, on 
motion, then adjourned. 

*The meeting was well-attended, the 
ladies having turned out in goodly 
numbers. The proceedings were both 
interesting and instructive. The good 
work the Society is doing should in¬ 
crease its membership largely. 








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